Brownie
by rowena.42
Summary: Michael had a terrible day and only wanted a brownie with chocolate chips. Coffee shop AU.


It had rained all day long and it didn't look like it was gonna stop anytime soon. Michael's car refused to turn on in the morning and he had to catch the subway to go to work. The tunnel entrance was four blocks away from his flat and his umbrella gave up trying to keep at least its owner's head dry seconds after Michael stepped outside. The train had technical issues and he arrived half an hour late to his workplace, a huge company in the security business. Michael was the head of the department that investigated life threats against bigwigs and even though most of the time his clients were over-reacting, he had to at least pretend the hardest he could to care. He spent that particular day behind a desk, reading e-mails from lunatics and letters in envelopes full of harmless powders. The paperwork for each item analysed was extensive, and one of the clients insisted on getting feedback before one o'clock, which made Michael give up his lunch hour. Relying on a banana milkshake, the only thing left in his department's refrigerator, he prayed half past five p.m. would come soon and he could go back home and wait comfortably for this day to end.  
When the time finally came and he was free, Michael decided to stop by a cafeteria on his way to the subway where they sold wonderfully tasty brownies. Around three p.m. he remembered that sweet delight existed and had not been able to stop thinking about it ever since. The line to the cashier to place orders was long. From where he stood he could see four brownies left and once more prayed that day, this time for the chance to take one little piece of edible bliss home. The man in front of him was tall with dark hair, like himself. The stranger wore a long coat over leather pants and a leather shirt, if that was even possible. He was talking on his cellphone in a really loud voice to someone who apparently was his sister. The conversation consisted mostly of swear words and the of the man's voice was probably not disagreeable in a good day, but in an awful one, it was the little push placing Michael an inch closer to the edge.  
Michael took deep breaths, rubbed his face a few times and tried to calm himself down. The line was walking painfully slow, the voice of the man ahead of him was getting louder and the brownies quickly being sold. One for a blond guy full of tattoos. One for a bald old man wearing beat-up regimentals. One for a shady little dude that dressed like a priest. This last one was almost leaving when he recognised leather pants stranger and shouted "GABRIEL!" with the biggest smile Michael had ever seen. The two embraced effusively, bumping into Michael a couple of times and not noticing. Priest dude was shoving his recently bought brownie in his mouth and talking at the same time, spitting everywhere, including in our working class hero's face, but Michael had decided to not let that be the last straw because it was almost his turn to order. He closed his eyes and imagined the delicate cake with chocolate chips melting in his mouth and that seemed to help him through that ordeal for a while. Gabriel's turn finally came and he wasn't sure what to order. Apparently the coffee shop had just too many options and he hadn't put much thought into what he wanted until that moment. He decided that reading the menu on the wall by himself wasn't enough and had the cashier read and describe everything to him. First he wanted a special kind of chocolate cappuccino. Then he was tempted enough by an alcoholic beverage that included coffee to change his order. Lastly he settled for a glass of cold tea.  
"And maybe strawberry cake to follow. No, no, wait. Is that lemon pie? Looks fantastic! But that banana bread has been looking at me for a while now."  
Priest fella decided to help.  
"I've tasted that bread once and didn't like it much. If you want my opinion, you should go with a brownie. It has chocolate chips."  
At that point, Michael had teary eyes. He was holding back a whimper and closing his fists so tight, his fingernails were hurting the palms of his hands.  
"Please... no, please...", he whispered, closing his eyes and letting a tear fall down. Gabriel didn't listen.  
"Well, then! Brownie it is!" Michael burst into tears, looked up, raised his arms and didn't hold his screams back.  
Michael woke up sweating in his bed. It was six a.m. Looking around and realising he was safe at home, he sighed in relief. He stood up, stretched and looked out the window. It was raining hard and it didn't look like it was gonna stop anytime soon.

* * *

_Obviously, I didn't have a beta reader for this one but decided to post anyway. I like to live dangerously. If anyone is reading this, hope you enjoyed! _


End file.
